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Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2021) | Viewed by 41973

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Martine Dennekamp

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Guest Editor

1. Environmental Public Health Unit, Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia
2. School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
Interests: air pollution epidemiology; forest fire smoke health impacts

Dr. Fay Johnston

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Guest Editor

Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, 1 Liverpool St, Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia
Interests: environmental health; epidemiology; outdoor air pollution and wood smoke; health impacts of bushfires, heatwaves and pollen; public health policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The frequency and severity of forest fires is already increasing and is predicted to continue to do so in the foreseeable future. On a global scale, it has been estimated that each year, 340,000 deaths are attributable to forest fire smoke.

Due to climate and type of vegetation in Australia, forest fires occur every year, resulting in large population centres being exposed, making it an important public health problem in Australia and in many countries around the world. Smoke is also emitted during prescribed or planned burning; this is the purposeful application of fire to reduce fuel loads to reduce the risk of forest fires.

The health effects of smoke from forest fires are largely attributable to suspended fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) which affects the respiratory, cardiovascular systems. However, impacts on the immune system and changes to metabolic functions have also been reported.

It is essential to understand the most effective way to manage the health impacts of forest fire smoke exposure. To address this, the Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research (CAR) will hold a workshop on “Managing Smoke in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk” in Sydney, Australia on 8–9 October 2020. This IJERPH Special Issue is being developed in partnership with the conference, and presenters are invited to publish their papers in this Special Issue.

Dr. Martine Dennekamp
Dr. Fay Johnston
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Forest fire smoke
Landscape fire smoke
Respiratory health
Cardiovascular health
Managing fire smoke

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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8 pages, 588 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can Public Spaces Effectively Be Used as Cleaner Indoor Air Shelters during Extreme Smoke Events?

by Amanda J. Wheeler, Ryan W. Allen, Kerryn Lawrence, Christopher T. Roulston, Jennifer Powell, Grant J. Williamson, Penelope J. Jones, Fabienne Reisen, Geoffrey G. Morgan and Fay H. Johnston

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4085; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084085 - 13 Apr 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4474

Abstract

During extreme air pollution events, such as bushfires, public health agencies often recommend that vulnerable individuals visit a nearby public building with central air conditioning to reduce their exposure to smoke. However, there is limited evidence that these “cleaner indoor air shelters” reduce exposure or health risks. We quantified the impact of a “cleaner indoor air shelter” in a public library in Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia when concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) were elevated during a local peat fire and nearby bushfires. Specifically, we evaluated the air quality improvements with central air conditioning only and with the use of portable high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter air cleaners. We measured PM_2.5 from August 2019 until February 2020 by deploying pairs of low-cost PM_2.5 sensors (i) inside the main library, (ii) in a smaller media room inside the library, (iii) outside the library, and (iv) co-located with regulatory monitors located in the town. We operated two HEPA cleaners in the media room from August until October 2019. We quantified the infiltration efficiency of outdoor PM_2.5 concentrations, defined as the fraction of the outdoor PM_2.5 concentration that penetrates indoors and remains suspended, as well as the additional effect of HEPA cleaners on PM_2.5 concentrations. The infiltration efficiency of outdoor PM_2.5 into the air-conditioned main library was 30%, meaning that compared to the PM_2.5 concentration outdoors, the concentrations of outdoor-generated PM_2.5 indoors were reduced by 70%. In the media room, when the HEPA cleaners were operating, PM_2.5 concentrations were reduced further with a PM_2.5 infiltration efficiency of 17%. A carefully selected air-conditioned public building could be used as a cleaner indoor air shelter during episodes of elevated smoke emissions. Further improvements in indoor air quality within the building can be achieved by operating appropriately sized HEPA cleaners. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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19 pages, 376 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Hazards and Behavior Change: User Perspectives on the Usability and Effectiveness of the AirRater Smartphone App

by Annabelle Workman, Penelope J. Jones, Amanda J. Wheeler, Sharon L. Campbell, Grant J. Williamson, Chris Lucani, David M.J.S. Bowman, Nick Cooling and Fay H. Johnston

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(7), 3591; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073591 - 30 Mar 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3908

Abstract

AirRater is a free smartphone app developed in 2015, supporting individuals to protect their health from environmental hazards. It does this by providing (i) location-specific and near real-time air quality, pollen and temperature information and (ii) personal symptom tracking functionality. This research sought to evaluate user perceptions of AirRater’s usability and effectiveness. We collected demographic data and completed semi-structured interviews with 42 AirRater users, identified emergent themes, and used two frameworks designed to understand and support behavior change—the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) and the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM)—to interpret results. Of the 42 participants, almost half indicated that experiencing symptoms acted as a prompt for app use. Information provided by the app supported a majority of the 42 participants to make decisions and implement behaviors to protect their health irrespective of their location or context. The majority of participants also indicated that they shared information provided by the app with family, friends and/or colleagues. The evaluation also identified opportunities to improve the app. Several study limitations were identified, which impacts the generalizability of results beyond the populations studied. Despite these limitations, findings facilitated new insights into motivations for behavior change, and contribute to the existing literature investigating the potential for smartphone apps to support health protection from environmental hazards in a changing climate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

27 pages, 96001 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Summer 2019–2020 Wildfires in East Coast Australia and Their Impacts on Air Quality and Health in New South Wales, Australia

by Hiep Duc Nguyen, Merched Azzi, Stephen White, David Salter, Toan Trieu, Geoffrey Morgan, Mahmudur Rahman, Sean Watt, Matthew Riley, Lisa Tzu-Chi Chang, Xavier Barthelemy, David Fuchs, Kaitlyn Lieschke and Huynh Nguyen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(7), 3538; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073538 - 29 Mar 2021

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 6647

Abstract

The 2019–2020 summer wildfire event on the east coast of Australia was a series of major wildfires occurring from November 2019 to end of January 2020 across the states of Queensland, New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia. The wildfires were unprecedent in scope and the extensive character of the wildfires caused smoke pollutants to be transported not only to New Zealand, but also across the Pacific Ocean to South America. At the peak of the wildfires, smoke plumes were injected into the stratosphere at a height of up to 25 km and hence transported across the globe. The meteorological and air quality Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model is used together with the air quality monitoring data collected during the bushfire period and remote sensing data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellites to determine the extent of the wildfires, the pollutant transport and their impacts on air quality and health of the exposed population in NSW. The results showed that the WRF-Chem model using Fire Emission Inventory (FINN) from National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to simulate the dispersion and transport of pollutants from wildfires predicted the daily concentration of PM_2.5 having the correlation (R²) and index of agreement (IOA) from 0.6 to 0.75 and 0.61 to 0.86, respectively, when compared with the ground-based data. The impact on health endpoints such as mortality and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases hospitalizations across the modelling domain was then estimated. The estimated health impact on each of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census districts (SA4) of New South Wales was calculated based on epidemiological assumptions of the impact function and incidence rate data from the 2016 ABS and NSW Department of Health statistical health records. Summing up all SA4 census district results over NSW, we estimated that there were 247 (CI: 89, 409) premature deaths, 437 (CI: 81, 984) cardiovascular diseases hospitalizations and 1535 (CI: 493, 2087) respiratory diseases hospitalizations in NSW over the period from 1 November 2019 to 8 January 2020. The results are comparable with a previous study based only on observation data, but the results in this study provide much more spatially and temporally detailed data with regard to the health impact from the summer 2019–2020 wildfires. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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13 pages, 525 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Markers of Cardiovascular Disease among Adults Exposed to Smoke from the Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire

by Juliana Betts, Elizabeth M. Dewar, Dion Stub, Caroline X. Gao, David W. Brown, Jillian F. Ikin, Berihun M. Zeleke, Sinjini Biswas, Michael J. Abramson and Danny Liew

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1587; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041587 - 8 Feb 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3245

Abstract

Little research has examined the effects of high concentration, medium-duration smoke exposure on cardiovascular health. We investigated whether six weeks of exposure to smoke from the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire in Victoria (Australia), was associated with long-term clinical or subclinical cardiovascular disease approximately four years later, in adult residents of the towns of Morwell (exposed, n = 336) and Sale (unexposed, n = 162). The primary outcome was serum high sensitivity (hs) C-reactive protein (CRP). Blood pressure, electrocardiogram, flow mediated dilatation and serum levels of hs-troponin, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide and lipids were secondary outcomes. There was no significant difference in weighted median hsCRP levels between exposed and unexposed participants (1.9 mg/L vs. 1.6 mg/L, p = 0.273). Other outcomes were comparable between the groups. hsCRP was associated in a predictable manner with current smoking, obesity and use of lipid-lowering therapy. Four years after a 6-week coal mine fire, this study found no association between smoke exposure and markers of clinical or subclinical cardiovascular disease in exposed adults. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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10 pages, 1329 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sub-Clinical Effects of Outdoor Smoke in Affected Communities

by Thomas O’Dwyer, Michael J. Abramson, Lahn Straney, Farhad Salimi, Fay Johnston, Amanda J. Wheeler, David O’Keeffe, Anjali Haikerwal, Fabienne Reisen, Ingrid Hopper and Martine Dennekamp

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3), 1131; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031131 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3209

Abstract

Many Australians are intermittently exposed to landscape fire smoke from wildfires or planned (prescribed) burns. This study aimed to investigate effects of outdoor smoke from planned burns, wildfires and a coal mine fire by assessing biomarkers of inflammation in an exposed and predominantly older population. Participants were recruited from three communities in south-eastern Australia. Concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) were continuously measured within these communities, with participants performing a range of health measures during and without a smoke event. Changes in biomarkers were examined in response to PM_2.5 concentrations from outdoor smoke. Increased levels of FeNO (fractional exhaled nitric oxide) (β = 0.500 [95%CI 0.192 to 0.808] p < 0.001) at a 4 h lag were associated with a 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 levels from outdoor smoke, with effects also shown for wildfire smoke at 4, 12, 24 and 48-h lag periods and coal mine fire smoke at a 4 h lag. Total white cell (β = −0.088 [−0.171 to −0.006] p = 0.036) and neutrophil counts (β = −0.077 [−0.144 to −0.010] p = 0.024) declined in response to a 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5. However, exposure to outdoor smoke resulting from wildfires, planned burns and a coal mine fire was not found to affect other blood biomarkers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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17 pages, 2012 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Health Impacts of Ambient Biomass Smoke in Tasmania, Australia

by Nicolas Borchers-Arriagada, Andrew J. Palmer, David M.J.S. Bowman, Grant J. Williamson and Fay H. Johnston

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(9), 3264; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093264 - 7 May 2020

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 10720

Abstract

The island state of Tasmania has marked seasonal variations of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations related to wood heating during winter, planned forest fires during autumn and spring, and bushfires during summer. Biomass smoke causes considerable health harms and associated costs. We estimated the historical health burden from PM_2.5 attributable to wood heater smoke (WHS) and landscape fire smoke (LFS) in Tasmania between 2010 and 2019. We calculated the daily population level exposure to WHS- and LFS-related PM_2.5 and estimated the number of cases and health costs due to premature mortality, cardiorespiratory hospital admissions, and asthma emergency department (ED) visits. We estimated 69 deaths, 86 hospital admissions, and 15 asthma ED visits, each year, with over 74% of impacts attributed to WHS. Average yearly costs associated with WHS were of AUD$ 293 million and AUD$ 16 million for LFS. The latter increased up to more than AUD$ 34 million during extreme bushfire seasons. This is the first study to quantify the health impacts attributable to biomass smoke for Tasmania. We estimated substantial impacts, which could be reduced through replacing heating technologies, improving fire management, and possibly implementing integrated strategies. This would most likely produce important and cost-effective health benefits. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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Review

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14 pages, 804 KiB

Open AccessReview

Efficacy of Communication Techniques and Health Outcomes of Bushfire Smoke Exposure: A Scoping Review

by Emily Heaney, Laura Hunter, Angus Clulow, Devin Bowles and Sotiris Vardoulakis

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10889; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010889 - 16 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4833

Abstract

Public health officials communicate the relevant risks of bushfire smoke exposure and associated health protection measures to affected populations. Increasing global bushfire incidence in the context of climate change motivated this scoping review. English-language publications related to adverse health outcomes following bushfire smoke exposure and publications relating to communication during natural disasters were included. Bushfire smoke events potentially increase healthcare contact, especially presentations triggered by respiratory illness. At-risk populations include those with underlying cardiorespiratory disease, elderly, paediatric, pregnant persons, and First Nations people. We found that social media, television, and radio are among the most common information sources utilised in bushfire smoke events. Message style, content, and method of delivery can directly influence message uptake and behaviour modification. Age, rurality, and geographical location influence information source preferences. Culturally and linguistically diverse groups and those with hearing, vision, and mobility-related disabilities may benefit from targeted health recommendations. This review emphasises the health effects of bushfire smoke exposure and related communication recommendations during and after bushfire smoke events. Additional investigation may further clarify the health effects of bushfire smoke exposure and efficacy of related health messaging, particularly in at-risk populations. Quantitative comparison of communication methods may yield more specific recommendations for future bushfire smoke events. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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Other

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16 pages, 334 KiB

Open AccessConference Report

Policy Implications for Protecting Health from the Hazards of Fire Smoke. A Panel Discussion Report from the Workshop Landscape Fire Smoke: Protecting Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk

by Christine T. Cowie, Amanda J. Wheeler, Joy S. Tripovich, Ana Porta-Cubas, Martine Dennekamp, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Michele Goldman, Melissa Sweet, Penny Howard and Fay Johnston

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(11), 5702; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115702 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3729

Abstract

Globally, and nationally in Australia, bushfires are expected to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change. To date, protection of human health from fire smoke has largely relied on individual-level actions. Recent bushfires experienced during the Australian summer of 2019–2020 occurred over a prolonged period and encompassed far larger geographical areas than previously experienced, resulting in extreme levels of smoke for extended periods of time. This particular bushfire season resulted in highly challenging conditions, where many people were unable to protect themselves from smoke exposures. The Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research (CAR), an Australian research centre, hosted a two-day symposium, Landscape Fire Smoke: Protecting health in an era of escalating fire risk, on 8 and 9 October 2020. One component of the symposium was a dedicated panel discussion where invited experts were asked to examine alternative policy settings for protecting health from fire smoke hazards with specific reference to interventions to minimise exposure, protection of outdoor workers, and current systems for communicating health risk. This paper documents the proceedings of the expert panel and participant discussion held during the workshop. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing Forest Fire Smoke and Impacts on Health in an Era of Escalating Fire Risk)

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